I started in this business back in 1996 when there were no HTML editors and the primary way to connect to the Internet was by AOL.  My how times have changed.  Now there are applications where you can go to a website and with a template generator and a few hours crank out a basic albeit functional website. 

But lets be honest, just like cars, clothes and even homes we want our website to be unique and show not only our venture in the best possible light but reflect our personalities too!  Just some cookie cutter editor that gives you a choice of solid colors and stock pictures isn't going to do that.  And something else really important is that you need to have functionality in the website.  When they first started it was fine to just have them up there providing information but now people expect more.  You expcet more.  You want to interact with the website.  You want it to enhance your internet experience in some way.

As time went by I learned what is called the Adobe Workflow.  Most of you have probably heard of Photoshop.  Well, Photoshop is where a graphic website starts in the Adobe Workflow.  It is where you actually make the appearance of the website and through a series of manipulations with that and other applications a website comes out the other end.  What is great about this is that you can make anything your mind can imagine.  What the problem is that after you develop enough skills you can make anything your mind can imagine.  The problem becomes how do you focus on what a client wants?

Several years back a new way to develop websites came about that sprouted what we call Web 2.0.  Essentially it means that websites are now interactive and not just pages of information.  To make websites more functional they have to have more structure than meets the eye.  For instance, say you want to start a newsletter to inform persons about your product or services.  In order to accumulate email addresses you have to have some way for them to sign up.  The way it used to be done with an HTML website is that you would have to create the page in Photoshop and then build a database where the email addressses could be stored and then link the web page with the data base.  Then when you wanted to send out your newsletter you would gather the emails from the database and write your newsletter and then send it out to all the people that signed up through usually an email client.

Today there are options that are much more efficient and powerful.  The best way to develop a website now is using what is called a Content Management System or CMS.  A CMS is a website that is built on a database.  Any major site that you go to now is built on a CMS.  Oprah, CNN, any TV station and radio station any anything that is anything has their site build with a CMS.  The reason is that the database you would need to add to an HTML website is already there.  So for that newsletter now all you do is go to your developer like myself and in just a short time not only do you have the form for people to signup to the newsletter but the software that will allow you to send the newsletter right from the site!  It is all self contained.

To be forthcoming when CMSes started they had a bad rap because if you have ever seen a web address that looks crazy that is because the site is not SEO optimized.  If you use youtube look at the URLs there.  That site is too big to use short URLS so you see things like "=?432-4023foiewjr32&fj" in the address bar.  But terrific advances have been made and if you look at the address bar in this site you will see that it is a normal URL and this site is built with a CMS.

That is why I recommend to all my clients that they consider CMSes.  For simple basic updates like adding  a new page or some photos someone on their staff can take care of that rather then always going to the developer.  It is as easy as using an email client or word processing application.  In short, CMSes give you so much more power and flexibility over traditional HTML websites it leaves them in the dust.